Zil
by StarWarrior72
Summary: Darth Vader accidently creates an evil version of Luke with sheer willpower, and is startled by the boy's sheer, pure evil. Darth Vader, Luke, Dark We'll-Call-Him-Luke-For-Lack-Of-A-Better-Term.
1. Chapter 1

I don't believe in wishes or dreams coming true. Not in the fairytale sense, anyway. And the odd time one of my wishes does decide to grant itself, it does so in a way that conforms more to one of my nightmares rather than a daydream.

I stared at Luke, who was glaring at me. I sighed, Luke was so stubborn. Why couldn't he just see that the Dark Side was the only choice? _If only Luke had been born with a greater affinity for the Dark Side. It's so frustrating to be refused like this so many times. Why couldn't he have just been born evil?_

Suddenly, Luke split. Not top to bottom, not across the middle, one just stepped out of the other.

The first Luke, the one who hadn't stepped apart, stared at the second, whose eyes were closed serenely.

"Who are _you_?" Luke asked, looking mystified.

The other boy opened his eyes, and instead of Luke's innocent blue eyes, the tawny eyes of a Sith stared back at the first boy, "I thought that was obvious. I'm _you_, aren't I?"

Luke was gazing, transfixed at the other, "Uh, I'm not sure about that."

The Sith Luke sighed dramatically, "Must I do everything for you two imbeciles? You can call me Zil, if you insist."

"Zil?" Luke asked.

"As Luke means light in Nubian, Zil means darkness. Appropriate isn't it?" when neither of us answered, Zil smiled. It was Luke's face, but very much not Luke's smile. The odd time I've seen Luke smile, it's been gentle, happy. Zil had the smile of a predator.

_Oh, that is _so_ wrong_, thought the Anakin part of my brain.

I couldn't help agreeing.

"Zil. Darkness. I suppose that would mean you're interested in being a Sith?" I asked hopefully.

"Oh, yes," Zil said, dark joy descending further over his face, "Anything for destruction."

"Actually," I said, afraid to interrupt, "We're trying to hold an Empire together."

Zil tossed Luke's blonde hair contemptuously, "There must be something I can destroy."

Luke, meanwhile, was backing away from Zil as fast as he could. I couldn't help thinking that it was probably a good idea for him to get a good long way away from the evil boy. I gestured for him to get behind me, which he gladly did.

I was beginning to think that I'd made another terrible mistake in wishing for this boy. He was clearly the epitome of evil. Perhaps even more evil than the emperor. With that thought, I wondered if I could send him off to my master forever.

_No_, Anakin said, _No, even you must see how bad an idea that is. Palpatine with this kid? I don't think _anyone_ wants that!_

Again, I had to agree. Palpatine with Zil would be a nightmare that wouldn't wait to happen.

_Well,_ I told myself, _as long as I'm going to have a twisted, evil version of my son, I may as well try to make the best of it._

"Zil, how would you feel about breaking into the Rebel base?"

Zil looked up, interested, "Can I destroy it?"

I sighed. _Force_ this child had problems.

"If you must."

"Father!" Luke shouted in agony, "You can't _do _that!"

"I will do what I want."

Now both of the children glared at me.

"Father, that's my family you're setting him on," Luke protested.

"You can't make me do anything _I _don't want to do," Zil declared.

"Your family is here, Luke," I told him. Turning to Zil, "And you _want _to destroy the Rebellion, don't you?"

Luke was gaping at me, apparently dumbstruck.

Zil shook his head, "No."

"No?" I asked.

"No, I just want to destroy. If it's easier to destroy _you_, then that'll work."

I tried to push aside that disturbing development, "How much briefing do you need?"

Zil shrugged.

"Clearly you have learned in some way. Where did you learn to speak? Or did you simply come into existence with these skills?"

For a moment, Zil looked confused, and I was glad to note that there were limits to his knowledge and power.

Then he gave that terrible feral smile once more, "I learned on a planet covered in sand," a pause, "Tatooine. And, unless I'm much mistaken, I'm calling my teachers 'aunt', and 'uncle'. Oh! Here's something interesting…" he turned his cruel smile on Luke, "Now I see the house I learned in on fire. Are those my teachers' burning corpses outside the door?"

Behind me, Luke gasped softly. I turned to look at him. He was crying softly.

Zil was looking at him with mild amusement and fascination, "Hm… now, another teacher. Oh, Vader, is that you?" he looked up at me, "Heh, that'd hurt if he'd lived another second."

Behind me, Luke sobbed again.

I decided to try to distract Zil, "You are to address me as 'father', as Luke does."

Zil scowled, "All right then_ Father,_" the smile sprang back to his lips, "Say, Father, whatever happened to Mother?"

I turned to Luke, "Go to bed, Son. I'll speak to you later."

Luke looked at Zil with utter repulsion. Then he blinked at me worriedly before hurrying off to the room I've given him.

I turned back to Zil, "Go now, Son," I choked on the word. Zil was not human, "Bring me information about the Alliance. Use Luke's memories against his friends and destroy things as hidden as you possibly can. When you've had your fun, return home."

Zil gave me another of his sneers and skipped off to a ship, "Don't worry, there'll be nothing left of the Alliance when I get back."

I felt sorry for sending this evil being back to those who had sheltered my son before I'd found him, and wanted to keep him from destroying Luke's life completely, "If you leave something, you can tear it apart before Luke and show him what it truly is to hurt."

Zil sneered at me one more time before he climbed into the cockpit, "You think you know what pain is, don't you_ Father_. You don't know yet. I'll _show_ you."

My heart tensed, and I watched him go. Next I had to pacify poor Luke. Then I would deal with Zil and his threats. One step at a time. Always, one step at a time.


	2. Chapter 2

As I stepped into the room I had prepared for Luke, he looked up towards the door. As he recognized me, he turned away again, looking sad and lost.

I sat down on the bed beside him, "I'm sorry, Luke."

Luke looked at me accusatorily, "How could you send him back to my home? How _could_ you?"

I frowned, and he seemed to repent, "I'm sorry. I just- they took care of me when no one else looked at me twice unless they wanted to turn me in to be killed."

I sighed, "Luke, I think now would be a good time to tell your sister that you've suddenly become triplets."

"Triplets?" Luke asked in alarm, "You made another one? Please don't tell me the new one is more evil than the first!"

"No, I mean yourself, Leia, and Zil."

"Oh," Luke sighed, seeming immensely comforted, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"She deserves all the warning she can get," I said.

"I bet," Luke sighed, pulling a comlink off his belt and starting to enter Leia's codes.

I respectfully didn't listen as he explained our predicament.

After a few minutes, he clipped his comlink back onto his belt.

"Is she aware?"

Luke frowned, "She's aware. Disbelieving, but aware."

"I hope you mean disbelieving in a way that she'll still take extra precautions."

"After everything she's been through? She doesn't have another reaction to news."

I was silent, unsure how to respond. It was my fault, after all, that both of my children had lived through so much.

"What are we going to do about Zil, Father?" Luke asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know. Perhaps the Force will bring us an answer in mediation."

"I hope so," Luke mumbled.

We sat in silence a few minutes, until Luke spoke, very softly, "He frightens me."

I sighed again, "He frightens me as well."

Luke crossed his legs, staring across the room, "What do you think he is?"

"A dream gone wrong," I answered honestly.

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later."

"Okay. What should we do about him? Don't deny it, even you find the model Sith disturbing."

"Of course I do," I answered irritably, "I don't know what to do about him. I suppose the smartest thing would be would be just to kill him. Wouldn't it? On the other hand, I feel that he is my son in a way."

Luke sighed, leaning on a bedpost, "I never thought moral issues would hold you back. To be honest, I kind of hoped you could be coldblooded on this too. Darn you, why'd you have to go and develop a conscience now?"

"It's always been with me," I answered, "I didn't kill _you_, did I? And I considered you to be my enemy at the time."

"You mean you don't anymore?"

"Somehow our little Sith in residence has outshone everyone I've ever considered to be an enemy."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I never thought I'd be talking to you, looking for an answer to my Sith problems," he paused for a moment, something further clearly on his mind, "Well, I have. But it was in a daydream sense."

I didn't know how to answer, so I simply turned away.

"Father, how did Mother die?"

I felt my spine stiffen.

"I'm sorry, I just… I need to know."

I turned to him, wanting to deny him that information, but he looked so lost, staring at me, waiting for me to refuse to tell him. I had a terrible feeling he'd been denied important information before. But of course, the information about my identity.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I killed her."

A lump rose in my throat at the words. I had never verbally accepted that fact. I looked away, wishing that I hadn't said it. I wished he hadn't brought Padmé up; I wanted her memory to rest in peace.

To my surprise, the young Jedi attached himself to me, hugging me tightly as tears started to slip past his lashes. I was a Sith, and I wanted to push him away, but something refused to do so. I wanted to believe it was Anakin, but it felt too much like me to be the Jedi. And besides, when I looked for him, I couldn't find Anakin.

I held him closer, looking down at his young face. It was very good to see his innocent expressions, not the twisted parody of him that was Zil.

"I'm so sorry, Luke. I should never have let my temper get the better of me. I should never have left her side for a moment. I kept having dreams she would die, Son, you have to understand that everything I did, I did trying to save her. And," I made him look up into my face and smiled as kindly as I could, "To save you."

For a moment, he seemed almost scared, and I realized that I'd just implied that I'd done everything I'd done because of him, including killing everyone he'd ever cared about, and I was just opening my mouth to apologise and explain myself when he smiled shyly and blushed.

"You mean, when you gave up everything you'd ever known, you were doing it for a child you didn't even know yet?"

I smiled back down at him, "I guess you could put it that way."

Luke smiled, then changed the subject, as though abashed by my openness about my feelings, "Father, shouldn't we ready a room for Zil?"

I sighed, "I suppose we should. I'll admit I rather hoped the Alliance would shoot him down and get it over with."

"Me too, but we can't count on it."

"Luke, can I put the two of you in the same room?"

Luke looked doubtful, but nodded.

"I'm afraid I'll have to keep you unarmed so he doesn't see you as a threat, but he knows everything you know, after all. I don't know whether he knows how your brain works from the memories. Scream if anything happens."

Luke continued to seem reserved, and though he nodded, it was with the sense of one signing their own termination papers.


	3. Chapter 3

I should have been suspicious when Zil landed, jumping out of his ship with an expression of such exquisite self-satisfaction that it was almost… just satisfaction. He swung himself down gracefully, landing in exactly the style Luke would have, a shoulder bag slung on his back.

"Hello, Father," he said cheerily, which should have been my second warning.

He raced off to Luke's room, calling through the castle, "Brother! I'm home!"

I pushed aside any feelings of uneasiness and thanked the Force that Zil had apparently learned something from the rebels. Perhaps he and Luke would get along better, and I would be able to calm down at last.

I walked after the strange Sith boy, wanting to be close when things went to dust.

"Don't!" Luke's voice called from up ahead, "Don't! That was a gift from Mother!"

I hurried my steps, not wanting Zil to destroy anything. Least of all his relationship with Luke, which was already worse than tenuous.

As I entered, I saw that Zil had dumped out the duffle bag across Luke's bed. A spread of personal items the likes of which I'd never seen lay across the blankets, some of which had already been cut to pieces with the lightsaber Zil held beneath the necklace I carved for Padmé all those years ago.

"Look, Lukey, when I drop this, it'll be vaporized completely. Not like that stuff," he waved a hand towards the pile of Luke's destroyed possessions.

I grabbed the necklace from his grip with the Force, and he spun to watch it land in my hand with a look of utmost anger in his yellow eyes.

"Leave Luke's belongings alone," I commanded.

Zil sneered, "Well, that'd be important to you too, wouldn't it, _Father_."

I put the necklace in my belt, "Yes. Now leave Luke's things alone and go train in the gym."

Zil didn't cease to smile for even a moment. He simply grabbed something further out of the pile, "I just wanted Luke to see this stuff again and give him visual representation that I destroyed his life."

"Is that a bra?" I asked, confused.

Luke looked terrified, shrinking back, "Is that one of _Leia's_?"

Zil grinned, "Yeah, it is. Too bad she caught me before I could take anything else. You know the best part? She _totally _thought I was you. If you ever get away from Father, you'll have no place to go."

Luke seemed more scared, "What do you mean she thought you were me?"

"Oh, your cute little call ahead? I said I faked it. I said it was a joke. And you know what? They _completely_ believed me. Adorable, really. They had such faith in you. Or me, it turns out. Well, that was easily remedied."

"What did you do?" Luke whimpered.

"Oh, nothing much. I stole a few girls' underwear," Zil smirked at Luke's expression, "I broke the Falcon's hyperdrive and broke a few other pieces of equipment. I changed all the clearance codes for the entire building around. I put fake blood tablets in all the laundry machines. I switched the vegetarian meat substitutes for real meat. I changed the IV drips for vinegar. And no one in the entire Alliance will be forgetting anytime soon what milk tastes like when you add bacta."

"Why did you do all that?" I asked.

Zil turned back to me, his eyes glowing with pleasure, "Oh, you were_ right_, Father. Destroying the whole Alliance in one go would have left no one to be upset about it. No, turns out Luke is everyone's best friend," he paused and cackled, "Wait, I mean _was_. Now none of them ever want to see his face again."

Luke took something off the bed and held it tightly. Looking closer I saw that it was a blanket, presumably something that was actually special to him. I gestured that he should come to me and I would protect him once more.

He came, still squeezing the blanket tightly, tears trickling down his face. I suppose his friendships meant a great deal to him, and he would have liked to keep them.

"Oh, you were _so_ right. Watching their lives unravel because I pulled out the lynch pin… Luke was their_ hero_. He could do no _wrong_. I must have got away with stuff at least ten times before they were willing to accept that I'd done anything wrong at all. They kept coming up with cute little excuses for me. It was the stress. It was the sleep deprivation. The Empire must have _done_ something to me. Luke was much too nice to ever have put mild poison in all the rations for the entire organization."

Luke looked incredibly lost.

"Of course, by the end they were all saying it was a mistake, Luke never did anything for them. Really Han did it, and Luke was just mooching off of him. In fact, Luke's proton torpedoes were probably gone because he used them on an ally, not the Death Star at all."

Luke started to sob.

"Of course they have no respect at all anymore. They think you're probably where all their funds kept disappearing to. They think that you see your failures as successes, and that when you actually help the Alliance you're disappointed. Oh, watching your whole life change in their eyes was better than wonderful!"

As Luke's legs slipped out from under him, I caught him and held him tightly. I could sense his world crashing down around him, everything he valued stolen. Stolen and crushed to smithereens.

"Zil, go to the gym."

"But I'm having fun!" Zil protested.

"Go."

Zil sighed, deactivating the lightsaber and starting to clip it to his belt. I snatched it away with the Force.

"I don't think you should have a lightsaber."

Zil groaned, but traipsed off towards the gym.

Luke walked over to his bed, sitting down and picking up two halves of a bisected holoprojector, the halves of which still held a piece of tape bearing the words _Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen._ A single tear traced a line on his face. I sat down next to him, putting one arm around him.

"It'll be all right, Luke."

Luke sniffled, "They all hate me. He made them all hate me. He destroyed my home."

"From what you've told me of your friends, they could never hate you."

Luke sighed.

"Call them. You still have your comlink, don't you?"

Luke smiled weakly up at me. He took his comlink from his belt and punched in Leia's number. I was about to let him speak to her privately, but her answer came through loud and clear.

"Hang up, Luke. I've seen enough of you for all the lifetimes of the people you didn't save."

"Leia? Leia, it's not like that. It wasn't me."

"Wasn't you? Wasn't you like setting those imperial prisoners free wasn't you? Like setting traps all over the place? Like deliberately under-stocking our supplies? Luke, I know you've had a freakish obsession with me since day one, it's been one of the most disturbing things that's ever happened to me. I know that it didn't fully go away when you discovered that we're twins. But, Luke, the way to a girl's heart, any girl's heart, is not through lying to her and stealing her undergarments. That was just twisted. Don't come back, Luke. Leave, because anyone else here will kill you."

The comlink in Luke's hand deactivated itself. I turned to my son to find tears trickling down his face at a rapidly increasing rate. He finally managed to look up from the little hunk of metal and into my face.

"Just kill me, Father. He's ruined everything I am. No one wants me now. No one should," his eyes drifted back to the bra Zil had dropped back on the bed, "Now that they all think I'm a creep with a serious fetish."

I felt a twist in my heart. It was my fault for causing Zil to come into existence.

"Son, I'm sure we can make them understand."

"What's to understand? If I were to turn evil, that's what I would be. I would become that monster. They're better off not knowing me. They're safer that way."

"Luke, everyone has potential for evil."

"Mine is worse. Mine is so, so much worse."

"Your mother heard from the Jedi Council many times that I was a danger, that I was leaning towards the Dark Side. She stayed with me. She loved me anyway. Once your friends understand what's happened, they will love you anyway, because they know you have greater potential for good. They love you, Luke. Just like your mother loved me, and aren't you glad that she did?" I gestured to him.

"Yeah, right. Look how much good that did the galaxy. You turned to the Dark Side anyway, and I was born. And because of that, we've got Zil to contend with now. Listen, Father, maybe if you kill me, he'll go away. Then they could all forget about the terrible things he did under my name. It would be for the best, and you know it."

"Luke, you're wrong. He's hurt you, and messed with your mind. He just wants to upset you. He's different from other Sith."

"I know. He's more evil."

"Well, yes. But most Sith have a capacity for planning and have something they want to accomplish. All Zil wants is to destroy everything that anyone holds dear. He doesn't care for planning. He is just a little child who amuses himself in the cruelest way available to him."

"Wonderful."

"You need to put up with him."

"What, you think he's going to see the error of his ways? That's usually me talking."

"I'm not sure he ever will see the error of his ways, Luke. But I'm hoping that I can teach him how to be a Sith in a more reasonable capacity. Maybe with proper training he can learn planning and the like. Maybe I can tone him down to simple evil. I hope that he can be controlled."

"I think you're being too optimistic," Luke said, carefully putting the halves of the holoprojector in a drawer of his dresser.

"Do you think you can manage sleeping in the same room tonight?"

"I can manage sleeping near my dark self. I suppose I've managed it all my life."

"Luke, Zil is more than just your dark side. He is evil incarnate, but there is nothing more to his personality. He is no one. He only wants to amuse himself in any way available to him. Even your Dark Side is a much better person than he is. I promise you that."

"Right. Thank you for your faith, Father, but I can't believe that. I'll just clean up the mess he made and… I'll try to get some sleep tonight."

"That's my son," I said, running a hand through his hair. But he shook it away, simply continuing to clean.

It wasn't like him. I knew that he idolized me, and wanted to be with me every moment. I knew I didn't deserve it, but I knew that my attention and approval meant a lot to him. It was disturbing to see him look so sad even in the face of my comforts, and I left his room with a sinking feeling in my heart.


	4. Chapter 4

Just to be safe, I slept next door to the two children. And before I ever allowed my eyes to close, I waited for both minds to fall asleep. Zil fell asleep first, drifting into dreams of torturing Luke again. I sensed Luke curling up in a ball and crying softly before sleep had mercy and took him as well.

At last, I slept. My dreams flitted amongst dreams of Zil destroying Luke, Padmé, and Leia. At last, my brain settled on one of him destroying the Emperor. I tried to tell myself that it was a good thing that he attacked the old man, but I couldn't even bring myself to believe that. If Zil could go toe to toe with Palpatine, and come out with blood on his hands, laughing, there was no way of dealing with him.

As the nightmares finally shook me awake, I sat up in bed and considered going to sit guard over Luke and protect him from the evil that slept in the same room.

I wondered if I could kill Zil while he slept, but in my heart I knew that I could never kill the boy. He was my son as well. All my instincts screamed that I should care for him. They would certainly keep me from killing him. Attacking him while he slept was also not a feasible idea. Asleep, he would look just like Luke, young and innocent.

I sat in the darkness, pondering my possibilities. I was very tempted to quietly enter the boys' room and wake Luke, taking him to safety.

Yesterday, I would have considered sending Luke back to the Alliance, where he had loyal friends who would undoubtedly care for and protect him. Now, of course, Zil had destroyed that chance. I wondered if he had gained any information whilst he was undercover, but doubted it. He had done too good a job of ruining Luke's reputation, and had had too much fun doing it, to have gained any information. And even if he had, it would have felt wrong to use it, a slap in the face for Luke.

I closed my eyes, wanting to wish Zil had never come into being. But still a part of me said I was glad he had. He was my son, and I loved him. He had done nothing to physically harm our family. In the strangest way possible, his pure evil had made him perfectly innocent, more so even than Luke. He was like a very young child, he only wanted to amuse himself.

Maybe, I let myself hope, they would sort everything out. Perhaps Luke could teach Zil less destructive ways of entertaining himself. Maybe someday they would view each other as brothers as I did.

Suddenly, the Force cried out and the scream was quickly joined by Luke, who was calling desperately for help. I leapt up, racing to the boys' room.

As I entered, I saw something I'd hoped I'd never see. Zil stood over Luke's bed, knife grasped tight in his hands, laughing.

Luke had pressed himself against the wall and was still crying out.

I hurried to put myself between them. Zil scowled at me and stepped back, leaving his knife embedded in the wood of the bunk bed they shared. I stared at the knife. It was at least twelve inches long, and embedded by a good three inches.

Luke finally drew breath as he saw me standing over him, pressing himself against the wall and shaking frantically.

"He t-tried to kill me!" Luke managed.

Zil grinned his feral grin.

I turned to him, "Zil, where did you find the knife."

"Oh, it was just a memory I stumbled across in Luke's head. Imagine, people use perfectly good weapons for _cooking_," he said, as if it was the most disgraceful thing he'd ever heard.

I nodded, sitting down between Luke and the knife, which I yanked out with the Force. My son came closer to me, pressing himself silently against me as though the protection was more than he could ever ask for.

I gently put an arm around him, trying to tell him that I was always with him when he needed me. He pressed closer, hiding as close to the only source of love and safety he had left as he could.

Zil looked at him with great distaste, then back to me, "Was that better, Father? I planned on attacking him since this afternoon. Or do I have to plan even further ahead?"

I felt Luke look up at me, hurt and afraid that I had told Zil to try to kill him.

"Zil. I meant that you need to plan better when you have an objective."

"But I do, obviously. I want to kill him. He's a pathetic excuse for a human, and now that I've ruined his life, he's no use to me."

I stood up, walking towards the evil boy, "Zil, I don't want to hear you talking about killing your brother ever again."

"Well, I wouldn't if he were a bit more exciting. But he's not, so I might as well. I don't see why you care about him, Father, he's nothing you want. He's a Jedi with close personal ties."

"Luke is also my son. Even if he is a Jedi, it is my duty to care for him. I have more reason to love him than I do you."

"Don't you see? I'm everything you've ever wanted!" Zil said gleefully, "I am yours and mother's son. I am a perfect Sith apprentice. I am brave. I'm stronger than Luke ever was!"

I moved back to my son on the bed, "You are many of those things."

"I'm all of them!"

"No, you're not. You aren't stronger than Luke."

Zil laughed and pulled another knife out of his belt, giving it a spin so it landed with its point dug deep into the wall beside Luke's ear. Luke shouted and dove against me, hiding.

"Him? Please. Look at him cower! I'm not afraid of anything."

"You're not. And once I would have thought that that proved you right. I would have nodded and agreed with you. But you're wrong. Luke is stronger than you are. He has known fear, and he has overcome it many times. With no fear, you have no way to prove your strength."

Zil scowled, "The point remains. I'm a better son than Luke."

"No, you're not. He has shortcomings, we all do, but Luke is an infinitely better son than you. He has never tried to destroy our family. Luke is the best, most loyal son in the galaxy. You, on the other hand, would rather that the whole family be destroyed so you could run wild in the galaxy."

"Well, yes. But I am a better Sith."

"You are, just as I wished. But I see now, my wish was more of a sentence. I would rather have my family, such as it is, than an apprentice. Come along, Luke."

I stood, carefully leading him out of the room. Once he had passed the door frame, I turned back, taking all the weapons I could sense from Zil.

"Goodnight, Zil. Go back to sleep."

I led Luke back to the room I had slept in and carefully lowered him onto the bed.

"Did he hurt you?"

Luke shook his head silently, looking as if he wanted nothing more than to run away and never look back.

"Good. Will you be all right?"

He nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry he's such a nightmare. I never would have thought it would do this."

Luke shook his head, curling up in a ball, and I tucked him in. I sat guard over him all night, wanting to keep him safe from Zil.


	5. Chapter 5

I had known from the start that there would eventually be a problem I couldn't solve from home, and I'd have to take the boys with me. Had I been able to choose, I certainly wouldn't have chosen Mustafar. So, of course, that's where the galaxy took us.

I landed our ship, shooing the two boys down the landing ramp towards the old Separatist building.

"You'll be safe in here, it's completely heat-proof. Sit tight while I take care of this."

Luke nodded with a nervous look at Zil, who also seemed willing. I led them to the old conference room and saw Luke make a face of distaste as he started to clean away the twenty-year-old bones.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," I said.

As I turned to leave, Zil lifted one of the bones and threw it away from Luke, who dutifully ran after it, adding it to the pile he was building. I suppose he planned to give them some sort of funeral. I considered telling him whose bones he was collecting.

I decided not to, and left.

It was troublesome how Jedi had begun to spring up across the galaxy once more. From what I'd heard, the one hiding one Mustafar was the strongest to be found of yet. I hoped with all my heart that it was the master.

That was one of the irritating things about Jedi. When dealing with Sith Lords, you were very nearly guaranteed that if you killed two in close succession, you were done. Not so the Jedi. The Jedi were happy to spread their disease with reckless abandon across the galaxy.

I saw the glow of a lightsaber in the distance. The Jedi must have been harvesting the precious metals of the planet`s mantel.

I leapt across the channel, making for a small droid platform, trying to forget what had happened the last time I'd followed a Jedi along this route.

At long last, the Jedi looked up, and I recognized him.

"Quinlan Vos?"

He nodded, offhanded friendly.

"You're dead. I killed you."

"Yep."

"What are you doing here? And so alive at that?"

Quinlan grinned, "Not much to do, being dead."

"I'm sure there isn't. But most people don't just come back!"

"I'm different, see? And, speaking of seeing, I can. Turns out there is a bright side to having been dead. No scars, no hearing loss, nothing."

"Wonderful for you. Now, why are you here?"

"To draw you away from the Emperor. The others are going after him."

"Fantastic," I said, and found myself really meaning it, "Listen, it probably is time that he falls. As much as I promise your continued existence annoys me," which was a lie, "I have more important things to do than fight Jedi."

"Oh, now I'm hurt."

"Are those attacking the Emperor back from the dead as well?"

"A few of them. I'm surprised you didn't sense the Force swelling each time we did it."

"You say it so causally."

"Well, yeah, it's easy. A little harder to control who you bring back if you want someone stronger."

"Well, I'd love to hear more about this," which was very true, "but I really do have to get back to my sons."

Quinlan looked suitably confused, "But Obi-Wan said the twins were a boy and a girl."

"They were."

"Then why was 'sons' plural?" he asked, springing from platform to platform alongside me.

"Is Obi-Wan one of the people you brought back?"

"Yeah, so how'd you get more than one son?"

"I wished for him."

"How specifically did you wish for him?"

"I wished for a son who would make a better Sith than Luke."

Quinlan swore, "We felt that."

"Zil being born?"

"Yeah. Looks like you found a similar technique to the one we've been using. I assume Zil is completely evil?"

"Yeah."

He swore again, and when that didn't seem to make him feel any better, he tried once more.

"I know."

"And you left him alone with Luke? From what Obi-Wan told us, Luke won't have lasted five minutes."

"Luke's stronger than most people give him credit for. He can manage Zil for a few minutes," I said, looking over at him, annoyed.

"Uh, I wouldn't be so sure."

I turned back in the direction of the building I'd left them in.

"Oh, no."

Zil had outdone himself. The building was all but gone.

"Is that? _Luke_."

Zil was using the Force to suspend himself in the air, and trap Luke on a rapidly sinking piece of metal.

"Luke!"

Luke looked up at me, seeming too shaken to answer.

"Oh, no."

"I warned-," Quinlan started, but I'd already leapt down towards the piece of sinking metal Luke was stranded on. I just heard the Jedi swear one last time before Zil's power gripped me and threw me down next to Luke.

"Father? What are you doing down here?"

"I hadn't thought about that yet," I answered honestly, beginning to use the Force to hold the metal above the lava enough that it slowed in its melting.

Luke seemed to catch on to what I was doing, as he helped me as well.

"You know, you said that you created Zil in some way, but you never shared how."

"I wished for him."

"What?"

"I wished for a son who would be a better Sith than you. Wishes never have turned out the way I want them to."

Zil seemed to realize that we were taking ourselves above the lava and shoved us back down.

"When did he get so powerful?" I asked in irritation.

Luke screamed as lava touched one of his boots and burned through instantly.

No. _No_. Luke was _not_ going through what I'd been through! I couldn't allow that! Not after everything he'd already been _through_.

The piece of metal shot skyward so rapidly that Zil couldn't catch it. Once we were a good thousand feet up, I stopped, and held us there, wrapping my arms around Luke.

Luke peeked over the edge of the platform and shivered, "Did you wish for this too?"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights."

"I'm not. But I am a little bit nervous about the power system."

"Well, in that case, yes, I did wish for us to be out of harm's way."

I stopped concentrating for a moment, and the platform shuttered.

"Father?"

"Yes, Luke?"

"Please promise me you'll never wish for anything again? Ever?"

I smiled, "I promise. Wishes have almost never worked out for me."

I meant it too, with every fibre of my being. I had turned to the Dark Side with a wish of saving Padmé from death, and that had failed. I had created Zil for hope of having a son who would be easier to bend to my will, which, I reflected as I looked down at the lava field, hadn't turned out perfectly either.

As if on cue, the resistance Zil had been putting up, trying to drag us back down, vanished. We shot a couple hundred meters further into the red sky, and Luke buried his face against me as though hiding from the knowledge of how high up we were and how very dead we were if I were to lose concentration.

I held him and lowered us slowly back onto the landing platform where Quinlan stood, looking around dumbstruck, lightsaber still activated.

"Where'd he go?"

"Zil?"

"Yeah! One moment he was here, and the next… he wasn't."

"I think-," my voice broke, "I think he's gone."

"Father? Are you all right?"

I closed my eyes for a moment, but I sensed Luke come up beside me and put his hand in mine.

"You feel bad that he's gone now, don't you?"

I forced myself to nod.

"It's for the best, Father. I promise. Zil's gone, but now you can meet Leia! See? One kid for another. And Leia's been your daughter for longer than Zil ever was your son."

I made myself nod again.

"Father, even if Leia isn't willing to take us back after what Zil did…" Luke paused, seeming dejected, "No matter what, I still love you."

I opened my eyes and blinked at him. He had let go of my hand and was looking at the ground as if he wished he could sink into it.

"Never mind."

I hugged him. I really didn't know how else to respond to the sudden despondency.

"Luke, it means a lot that you love me. I guess I've just taken it for granted."

He smiled up at me, just enough to reassure me that he wasn't irreversibly hurt by my actions.

"The two of you going to come with me?" Quinlan asked, finally turning his lightsaber off.

"Yes!" Luke said emphatically before turning to look at me with an expression of apology on his face.

"I have nowhere else to go."

The Jedi led us back to his ship, and I was able to send Luke off to the cockpit for a few minutes while I 'thought about what had happened'.

I sat down in an out-of-the-way corridor of the ship and closed my eyes.

_I know I promised Luke otherwise, but I have one more wish to make_, I told the Force_. For everything my family has survived, please return Padmé to us. My wife, the children's mother, without any kind of twist to make this as torturous as my previous wishes. If I am granted this last thing, I won't ask for these things again._

I started as someone took my hand, which had been clenched tightly with the power of my wish, and carefully unfurled it. I opened my eyes, and there sat Padmé.

"Padmé."

She smiled and nodded, standing.

"I think we have something to tell our son."

I nodded, getting to my feet as well. I led her to the cockpit, where Luke sat, watching Quinlan entering the coordinates into the navicomputer. I carefully hid Padmé from his line of view and tapped his shoulder.

"Luke?"

"Mm?" he asked, turning to me.

"I made another wish. Can you ever forgive me?"

He looked frightened, and I drew myself out of his sight, letting him see Padmé.

"Mom!" he shouted, springing to his feet. I watched as he wrapped himself around her neck, clinging tightly to her.

Then, much to my surprise, he grabbed her wrist, then mine, and dragged us back out of the cockpit. He pulled us into a room of bunks and dropped himself onto a bunk, gazing up at us with huge eyes.

"Man, I'm so glad you're here. I have so much to tell you!"

I looked to Padmé for an answer for Luke's sudden shift in demeanor. She just shrugged.

I turned back to him, and it was like watching every care and worry he had in the galaxy, every plan gone wrong and person lost, peel from his face, leaving him completely innocent, smiling up at us.

I took a seat next to him. Force knew he deserved a chance to be a child. Padmé seemed to sense the sentiment, because she took a seat on his other side, setting herself up to listen.


End file.
